Ten Ways to Protect Eyes from Digital Screens Exposure?
 

By Dr.Panchajanya Paul, MD


Our modern life now revolves around looking at a digital screen. We stare at the artificial lights on a bright screen for work, education, research, news, calendar, shopping, banking, socialization, recreation, games, and entertainment. The modern world involves using computers, laptops, and mobile devices. The human eye was never designed to look at an artificial screen all day. Prolonged looking at the screen is damaging our eyes. As a psychiatrist offering telemedicine, I conduct patient appointments online using video telehealth platforms. As I looked at my laptop and smartphone screen all day to do video appointments, I noticed dryness of eyes, eye fatigue, and headaches. I was too tired at the end of the day, with limited energy for family and fun. Here are the ten things I found to relieve digital eye strain and protect the eyes. These simple practices can empower you to take control of your eye health.



1.Avoid Dry Eyes: We forget to blink when we look at the screen as we are engrossed with the content—the lack of blinking results in dryness of eyes. One way is to remind yourself to blink by putting a reminder on the wall or the desk to remind yourself to blink. Use of artificial tears every few hours. Rinsing the eyes with cold water will also soothe the eyes. Another practice to relieve dry eye is palming. Rub your palms against each other for around 30 seconds till they are warm. Then close your eyes and put your palm over your eyes for another 30 seconds, ensuring the warm hand touches the eyelid. Palming will create a comforting darkness, and the heat will stimulate more oil secretion to relieve dry eyes. Another quick fix is to look away from the screen, blink 20 times rapidly, and then return to work.


2.Prevent Eye Strain: Looking at the screen objects causes the pupillary muscles to constrict as we attempt to focus on the screen's content. Our eyes are not meant for prolonged near-vision. One way to counter that is to look at a far-off object out of the window every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet or more for 20 seconds. Another fix is to go to a dark room where the pupils can freely dilate again. Set up your home office in a room with access to a window with a view. It will get natural light, and you can look outside the window to relax your eyes. Also, increasing the font size of your screen is less taxing on the eyes to read. Although not eco-friendly, print the documents you must read in depth, as reading on paper is much easier on the eyes than reading on the screen.

3.Reduce Screen Glare:
The screen's glare makes the pupil constrict. Prolonged pupillary constriction is stressful and painful. Adjust the screen brightness to the minimal level required for vision. Use an antireflective coating cover over the screen. Get glasses with antireflective ARC coating over them. Watch television from a distance. When possible, reduce the screen's color and contrast to make it less taxing for the eyes. Choose a screen with a higher pixel resolution, which is easier on the eyes.



4.Block Blue light:
All artificial sources of light are energy efficient because they don't emit the full spectrum of light, but more blue light at the expense of red and infrared. Blue light is high-energy and penetrates the retina. It can cause macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss in the elderly. Reduce blue light exposure by using blue-light blocking glasses. In addition, install the night mode on the screen, which will tilt the light spectrum more towards red. In addition, keep a red-light lamp near the screen to balance the blue. Red light therapy and its anti-aging benefits are good for the eyes to balance the blue light overexposure.


5. Use Natural light:
Human eyes evolved to use sunlight during the day and fire at night. Any source of light that gives illumination without heat is artificial, like LED, and fluorescent, and is unhealthy. Light produced by heat, like the sun, fire, or incandescent, is a natural source of eye-friendly light. I have replaced most of the LED and fluorescent lights in the house with incandescent light, which gives a light with a yellowish hue in addition to heat. Also, the incandescent lights will minimally impact sleep and suit those with headaches and migraines.






6.Avoid Night Screen: Screen exposure is even worse at night. The human body evolved under light during the day and darkness at night. Exposure to artificial light at night, especially blue light, will suppress melatonin secretion and cause sleep problems. Night light exposure is also associated with cancer, weight gain, diabetes, and early death. Try to schedule all screen activity in the earlier part of the day. And avoid all screens at least 2 hours before your bedtime.

7.Rest Your Eyes: Eyes, like any part of the body, need rest. Take frequent breaks from screen activity, ideally at least 5 minutes every hour. During the break, do not surf social media or check the news or the latest updates and notifications. That will defeat the purpose. If you must spend the entire day on the screen, choose a recreation that involves non-screen activity, and avoid television. Reducing screen time whenever possible is the best way to fight the screen-related eye strain and fatigue. Taking a day off from all screens will help you reset and recharge your eyes.


8.Eye exercise: Like any muscles of the body, the eyes can also be strengthened by exercising their muscles. Sit at a quiet spot outdoors. Focus on an object far away. Keep your eyes focused on the object and then move your head left, right, up, down, clockwise, anticlockwise, and diagonally while keeping your gaze fixed. The following exercise is similar, but this time keep your head fixed and look at your extreme left and then at your extreme right. Then look up, down, clockwise, counterclockwise, and diagonally, keeping without moving your head. Do repeat all movements ten times.

9.Eye Nutrition – Certain nutrients are essential for the eyes and can minimize the harms of screen exposure. The chief among them is that Choline helps with tear production and improves visual acuity and contrast. Vitamin A is crucial for the eyes' retinoid cells and night vision. Choline and Vitamin A can be found in food rich in saturated fat - liver, egg yolk, meat, full-fat dairy milk, cheese, butter, and yoghurt. Omega-3 fatty acids in wild-caught fish, pastured eggs, grass-fed meat, and dairy support retinal structure and prevent age-related macular degeneration. Vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant, is found in fruits like lemons, oranges, grapefruit, and berries, and is protective against the oxidative damage to the eye cells. A low-fat diet is bad for the brain and the eyes, as the nervous system requires saturated fat for neuronal connections and optimal functioning.

10.Spend time outdoors: Humans have evolved to spend most of our waking hours outdoors like primates. The sun is the primary life giver as well as the light giver. When outdoors, our body is bathed with millions of photons from the sun, which have myriad health benefits, including vitamin D and endorphins. There are other colors from the sun rays that the human eyes cannot see, but the body can absorb those radiations whose health benefits are yet to be discovered. Outdoor time will fix the circadian sleep problem caused by screen exposure. Since the digital screen lights are blue dominant, one way to mitigate the risk is to get red light exposure. Red light is naturally present outdoors during the morning and evening, when the sun rays are more towards the red spectrum. Spending outdoors during sunrise and sunset will give a natural red light. We can also get a red-light lamp and use it in the evening. Try to spend the rest of the time under natural light. Do as many activities as possible outdoors, like exercise, play, eating, and socializing, when the weather permits.



Finally, most of us will agree that watching the screen for prolonged hours harms the eyes and overall health. But there seems to be no escape from the digital screen. Computers and smartphones are indispensable tools for work, education, research, governance, and communication, making modern life smooth and efficient. The digital screen-related damage to the eyes is incremental and accumulative, and children growing up with screens are even more vulnerable as they will be exposed more in their lifetime. Children's eyes are not yet fully developed, and screen exposure is a significant cause of vision impairment in the young. Make it a priority to use screens responsibly and teach young people healthy eye care practices to maintain healthy, lifelong vision.